On Nov. 12, 2022, the Tennessee Volunteers walked off the field at Neyland Stadium having put up a dominant win over the Missouri Tigers, sending their seniors out with pride.
What was an unknown fact back then though, was that one of their coordinators would be walking out of Neyland Stadium for the final time as well.
That coordinator—now Auburn Head Coach Alex Golesh.
In the same way that the Auburn Tigers will be making their return to Neyland Stadium for the first time since 2013 on Saturday, Golesh will be doing the same, stepping into the checkered end zone for the first time since that year.
Golesh left to be the head coach at USF in December of 2022, and then coming to be the leader of the Tigers following the 2025 season.
The start of a treacherous October stretch is set to carry a lot of memories for Golesh, and on Monday, Golesh had high praises for what his former colleague Josh Heupel did for him in his career.
“I got so much respect for Coach Heupel,” Golesh said. “Gave me an opportunity in 2020, and brought me with him to Tennessee. Man, changed in a lot of ways how I look at offensive football, how I look at just running a program, and really, really high-end smart, really phenomenal leader. I got a ton of respect.”
Heupel became the 27th head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers in January 2021 and is now in his sixth year leading the program. Golesh served as his offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.
Alongside Golesh for one year was a wide receivers coach and former Auburn player who goes by the name of Kodi Burns, who serves in the same position for Golesh now.
For Burns, he was grateful to Golesh and Heupel for all they taught him in his year in Knoxville.
“A tremendous person, a great human being; very innovative offensively,” Burns said. “You can see how he approaches every single day, has a ton of energy. It's a guy that you'd love to work for, and what I respect, again, going back to Coach Golesh and (Josh) Heupel, they listen to everybody's ideas.”
In his time in Knoxville, Golesh’s offenses were known for being some of the quickest in terms of tempo and times between plays.
He has carried that mindset even through his time at USF and now to the Tigers.
However, time can change and schemes evolve, and while there could be some thought that coaching against a former colleague could be a benefit, Golesh said he does not know if it will truly benefit his team.
“I think if you overthink it and say, ‘Man, like we gotta change drastically because of this or that,’ and then you're going to put your players in a situation where they're not fully confident in the plan,” Golesh said. “I think if you do what you do and you do it at a high level, I think that's what gives you the best chance to win. But there's obviously familiarity, but it's been four years now. We've all kind of grown and changed and evolved, so I don't know how big of a factor that really is.”
However, it does not change the intensity with which Golesh and his staff are preparing their players for the road test.
Jacob Bronowski, Auburn’s special teams coordinator, coached with Golesh at UCF and Tennessee, and from the time he got to know him, he knew he was going to be a leader at some point and carry a lot of energy with him.
“The No. 1 thing was his relentless work ethic, and then how he poured into the players every single day in a real authentic manner. It was very infectious,” Bronowski said. “You wanted to be around him. It was contagious…When he became a head coach, I knew he was going to be successful because of how he goes about his business every single day. Nobody's going to outwork him. He’s going to communicate at an elite level, which is just awesome to be a part of every single day.”
Since his time in Knoxville, Golesh’s mindset for tempo may not have changed much, but other parts of the offense have.
No matter what has changed though, he knows his team just needs to put the plan into reality, and execute it well.
“I think we've changed so much schematically, operationally,” Golesh said. “We've got to continue to evolve as well go. But, ultimately, we've got to be able to go execute. So you've just gotta be honest on how much new you have put in. Like, spring and summer is for that. Now, it's moving people around to get them in the best situations to be successful.”
So when Golesh takes on Heupel on Saturday, it will be a battle of familiar minds. No matter what the result is, he’ll still have the same respect for him as he did when wearing the orange and white.
“Has certainly been a really good friend,” Golesh said. “Was really, really good to me when I was with him. Helped me in a lot of ways to one, get my first opportunity to be a head coach. Supported me all through that. Really, really good human being. Incredible family. Really good people.”
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
